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¶ … Fall of the Heike is a long tortuous, complex tale about the travails of the warrior house of the Taira.
The tale, typically Buddhist, features the Buddhist motifs of impermanence and retribution.
The motif of impermanence refers to the aspect of nirvana or change where phenomena is in flux and all is in a state of impermanence constantly changing and going through various forms until it perishes and metamorphoses in a different form. The concept of retribution, on the other hand, is the very simple cause -- and -- effect notion that all deeds have their consequence. One need have no external judge to dole out punishment or reward. The deeds themselves bring their own punishment or reward.
The theme of impermanence may well be the key motif of the book. Its entry is sounded in the first paragraph:
The sound of the Gion Sh-ja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the s-la flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind. -- Chapter 1.1, Helen Craig McCullough's translation
The story itself is the very epitome of change. The epic recounts the Genpei War (1180-1185)
that was the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto...
The Taira had been renowned for their might. Their fall not only celebrates the factor of impermanence but also points to the influence of retribution since this powerful Sumarai clan who had defeated the Minamato in 1161, actually sowed their own defeat with their acts of arrogance and pride. They had conquered the Minamato; now their deeds led to the Minamato defeating them. Both Buddhist motifs of retribution and impermanence are evident here.
The Minamato clan committed various evil deeds. Omens predicting their demise were palpable. One of the wicked deeds was that Kiyomori, avenging the messengers who were killed by the monks of the K-fukuji temple, plunders and destroys the city of Nara burning temples, books, and Buddhist scriptures. This sacrilegious deed was cited as key cause to Kiyomori's downfall. It was an act of retribution that Kiyomori brought on himself. The fact that this was retribution for what he had done can be seen by the manifestation of his death. His body was as hot as hell and invincible to water. His wife dreams that Kiyomori will be taken to Hell for burning Buddhist statues. His future is evidenced in the present where even water sprayed on his body turns into flames. His death (at age 64) is a powerful token of both impermanence and retribution. The powerful had fallen! And…
Impermanence played a part too in that stability is impossible in this world. All is in flux. Impermanence is the motif of the book, as seen in the opening paragraph, and fittingly enough the final chapter concludes with impermanence too in the form of the natural phenomena of earth-changing power that is the earthquake. The earthquake powerfully signifies retribution, too. It signaled change. An older order had become uprooted and a new order -- after the smoke settled -- was in place. The misfortunes of the Taira are blamed on Kiyomori and, at the end of the book, Kiyomori's daughter Kenreimon'in becomes a nun and shares the Buddhist lessons that she learned form the sufferings of her father and the Taira to her visitors.
Source
McCullough, Helen Craig. (1988). The Tale of the Heike. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
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